


Lost Knowledge

by lucky_feather



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Camp Half Blood, Demigods, Gen, for relationships and stuff its just gonna be mentioned that certain minor characters are together, im a sucker for some magic and summer camp, im aware i mentioned that in my last story, theres gods and stuff and a lot of demigods and ill basically spoonfeed you info, yes this is a percy jackson au i really like percy jackson, you actually dont really need much knowledge of percy jackson to read this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24785230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucky_feather/pseuds/lucky_feather
Summary: It started in the dark. I was stuck in complete blackness. I couldn’t see anything around me.How did I get here? I wondered. I touched my face. Alright, I could still feel. I took a hesitant step forward. Nothing. I took another step.A light began to flash in front of me. Brightly. It was so bright I could barely look directly at it. I covered my eyes. It started flickering. A figure appeared ahead. It was only a silhouette of what I believed to be a human. I began to back away. The figure approached closer, slowly making their way to me.My entire body was telling me to not let them get near me. I backed up even more, cautiously going step by step. It began to call my name. I started to move faster, no longer caring how careful I was being. I just wanted away. My name was being called at an even louder volume. No, no, no, no, no.I stepped back once more, but stumbled on my own feet. I went crashing backwards.“SAIHARA!”-----------Shuichi, after getting attacked by a strange creature at school, gets thrown into the secret world of gods, magic, and monsters.
Relationships: Background relationships - Relationship, trust me theyre not going to be a big part of the story at all
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	1. I Get Vibe Checked In The Hallway

**Author's Note:**

> these ARENT my characters once again these are spike chunsofts and the story idea like camp half blood and stuff belongs to rick riordan thank you and goodnight

It started in the dark. I was stuck in complete blackness. I couldn’t see anything around me.

 _How did I get here?_ I wondered. I touched my face. Alright, I could still feel. I took a hesitant step forward. Nothing. I took another step. 

A light began to flash in front of me. Brightly. It was so bright I could barely look directly at it. I covered my eyes. It started flickering. A figure appeared ahead. It was only a silhouette of what I believed to be a human. I began to back away. The figure approached closer, slowly making their way to me. 

My entire body was telling me to not let them get near me. I backed up even more, cautiously going step by step. It began to call my name. I started to move faster, no longer caring how careful I was being. I just wanted away. My name was being called at an even louder volume. No, no, no, no, no.

I stepped back once more, but stumbled on my own feet. I went crashing backwards. 

“SAIHARA!” 

I pushed myself up with a jolt. Oh. I was in class. Right. I’d forgotten about that. Ha. Everyone was staring at me.

“Sorry, Mr. Komaeda,” I apologized, tilting my head downward like a dog that'd been caught doing something it wasn't supposed to be doing. He sighed.

“It’s alright, just try your best to pay attention. It may be useful,” he gave me a knowing look, before returning to the book he was reading out of. I didn’t understand. I thought we were going over Greek mythology? Upon listening to what he was saying, I realized that that was indeed what we were doing. Whatever. I rested my head on my arms, staring intently at the whiteboard and the posters on the walls. The same as always. A couple of history related memes, a map of the world, some things we’d be learning that week. At least it kept me awake trying not to have my brain jumble up the words and letters. 

After who-knows-how-long of staring at whatever Mr. Komaeda had on his classroom walls and completely ignoring the lesson, the bell rang (or I should say, made an uncomfortably loud beeping noise that gave me a headache), and I began to put everything away. Once I had hastily shoved my heavy history textbook into my already overfilled backpack, I walked to the door.

“Saihara, could you stay for a bit?” Mr. Komaeda called. I stopped in my tracks. Damn. I was in trouble. And of course, I couldn’t use the _“Sorry, I can’t be late to class”_ excuse, because next period was lunch. I was stuck. 

“Uhm, alright then.” I went over to where he was sitting at his desk, fully preparing for my annihilation. Mr. Komaeda looked up from his work, staring through me with his intimidating grey-green eyes.

“Saihara, I am aware that you have issues with focusing, but you really cannot be sleeping in my class. I am not sure that you’re aware, but you tend to get very panicked in your sleep, and it disrupts the class.” I did not know that. I suddenly felt very awkward. 

“Sorry about that, I was, em, having a kinda scary dream,” I attempted to explain. I hoped it would suffice. Mr. Komaeda nodded sympathetically.

“I understand that, just please try to get more sleep at home. That’s all I needed you for, you can head out to lunch.” He gave me a small smile. 

I thanked him, and then left the classroom. I made my way to the cafeteria, letting myself go on autopilot, immersed in my own thoughts.

 _Could that dream mean something?_ I pondered. It certainly was much different from the dreams I usually had. Maybe I could look it up later? I was sure some blog existed that explained that exact dream in detail. I’d just have to remember that when I got home. No matter, I didn’t have time to go into the very tiny details of the meanings of dreams. I didn’t have to worry myself about that. It was probably going to morph into some nonsense-fest if I hadn’t been woken up, anyway. Still, it lingered. That uneasy feeling. 

Maybe it was just me being anxious about everyone looking at me for being weird in my sleep. Yeah, that was it. It had to be. 

I sat down at one of the tables closer to the corner of the room, as I liked avoiding interaction at any cost. It wasn’t exactly my fault I didn’t understand social cues very well. 

Eating my lunch in silence, I decided to check my phone. I, sadly, hadn’t received anything from my closest (and probably only) friend Kaede in a while. Usually she was around, although I wasn’t ever able to contact her during the summertime. But recently, she sort of disappeared. My last text from her was her telling me she wouldn’t be able to contact me because of “family problems”. It confused me, but I didn’t want to pry, so I just sent her a goodbye message. I hoped she was alright. 

I decided to get my mind off of worrying about Kaede and her family, and instead got up and decided to walk around the school after I’d finished my sandwich. 

Strolling through the mostly-empty halls of the school was a peaceful, yet eerie, experience. If I noticed someone down a hallway, I’d just turn and walk down another. A great way to let go of some energy. 

I stopped by my locker to drop off my backpack, so I didn’t have to lug it around everywhere. I took my phone out again and checked the time. I still had a good amount of time left. I’d save the rest of my lunch for when I got home. For the moment, I just needed to walk around. 

I spent most of my time in the hallways spacing out, trying to get the thought of my only real friend being in danger out of my head. I turned a corner to walk down another hall. There was a girl there, possibly the same age or a bit older than me, leaning against the lockers. I didn’t recognize her, but my school was pretty big, so I just assumed she was in a different grade. 

I almost turned around and walked back in the direction I came from, seeing as I didn’t like quietly walking past people, afraid of their judgement. Sadly, though, my need to not be seen as suspicious overpowered me and I shuffled ahead, keeping my eyes glued to the ground. 

“Hey, Shuichi~.” I froze, then turned around. The girl was staring directly at me. Her eyes bored holes into my face.

“H-hello, do I know you?” I asked, seeing as I’d never seen this girl in my life.

“You don’t know me, but I certainly know you,” she purred. My face began to feel hot. Who the hell was this? 

“That’s, uh, cool,” I chuckled awkwardly and started looking around the room, not wanting to make eye contact.

“You’re not even going to look at me? How rude,” the girl complained. I muttered a quick apology and tried to look back at her. “Those eyes...how lovely. I think I’ll take them.”

Before I could even process what in the heck that could’ve meant, she pounced directly on top of me. My head hit the ground hard. Ouch. 

When I cracked open my eyes to see just what had happened, I noticed the girl had changed. Quite significantly, at that. Her wavy brown hair had changed to what appeared to be pure fire, and her eyes glowed red with malice. A clawed hand was raised to my face. I froze with fear. I didn’t know what to do. My head hurt. I started to hyperventilate.

I heard a yell, and the girl got off of me. There were screams and shouts of anger. I screwed my eyes tight. I couldn’t do anything, so I stayed in the same position on the floor, too afraid to move in the slightest. 

Eventually, there came a high pitched wail of agony. Steps came closer to where I lied. I could feel someone standing over me. I didn’t dare move nor make a noise.

“It’s alright, she’s gone now.” Was that...Mr. Komaeda? It had to have been. I cautiously opened my eyes to see him smiling down at me, but the brightness of the light around me made me close them again. My dizzying headache became worse. Everything began to cloud over.

* * *

...

I opened my eyes to find myself lying on the hard and uncomfortable “bed” in the school nurse’s office. I thought back to what happened. That couldn’t have been a dream, could it? It felt all too realistic to be one. I’d have to ask Mr. Komaeda. He’d be able to confirm it for me, I was sure. I carefully sat up, wincing at the sting that went through my head. It didn’t last, however, which was nice.

I saw Mr. Komaeda walk past the window, and he seemed to notice me, too. He looked surprised for a second, but gave a bright smile as he opened up the door. 

“Saihara, I’m glad you’re okay.” I was about to open my mouth to ask who (and what) that girl was, but he turned his head around to call out to someone before I could say anything. “Mikan, He’s awake!”

The school nurse, Ms. Tsumiki, came stumbling into the room. I decided to save the conversation of explaining what had happened in the hallway for later. 

“Ah! S-s-s-sorry! Let me get you an ice p-pack and we’ll send y-you home.” She began to fill a plastic bag with ice from the small freezer in her office.

“Send me...home?”

“You had a pretty bad concussion, so we decided it’d be better if you went home early,” Mr. Komaeda explained. 

“Oh.”

Ms. Tsumiki handed me the “ice pack” (ie, a ziploc bag filled with ice wrapped in a paper towel) with shaky hands. I took it and thanked her as she rushed off to go do something else.

“Are you able to stand?” Mr. Komaeda questioned. I swung both legs over and carefully stood up. My legs trembled a bit, but I didn’t have much trouble. Mr. Komaeda opened the door and gestured for me to leave first.

“W-wait!” I blurted. He looked at me in surprise. “What exactly happened back there? Who was that?” I partially whispered to him.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”

“In the hallway. Who was that girl? How could she do that?” My volume level began to raise a bit, but no one in the office seemed to notice.

“There was no girl in the hallway, Saihara,” Mr. Komaeda said with a confused expression.

“What?” So it was a dream? But it felt so real! It couldn’t have been, no matter how crazy it was!

“You tripped over your own feet and ended up slamming your head into the ground. You’re quite lucky I was there and watched it happen, otherwise you’d probably have been trampled in the hallways.” That...wasn’t possible. I had pretty decent reflexes, I probably would’ve caught myself before I fell!

“Oh,” was all I could say while he ushered me out of the room. 

Going into the main part of the office, I saw my uncle, who I assumed had been waiting for me there, holding my school bag.

“Hey kid, heard you had a rough fall, are you okay?” He smiled at me sympathetically.

I looked down at the floor, deciding that studying the patterns in the carpet would be better than looking him directly in the eyes.

“Yeah, ‘m fine,” I lied.

“That’s good. We’re gonna head out now. Thank you, Komaeda.” 

“It’s no problem at all, Mr. Saihara! Your nephew is wonderful in class and I’m happy to help him any time.” Mr. Komaeda gave yet another glowing smile. I was pretty sure he was lying, though. I couldn’t read out loud without stumbling on my words and saying the wrong thing, and I often fell asleep. Still, his smile didn’t look fake in the slightest. Or maybe it did? I’d heard that usually, fake smiles don’t cause crinkles in the corners of eyes, but maybe he was faking that too. Damn it, I was over-analyzing it.

I left the school building, muttering a quick goodbye to the people in the office (though I doubted they heard me).

Opening the car door, I stared back at the school, wondering just what had actually transpired in that hallway.

“You gonna get in?” My uncle asked before slamming the trunk shut.

“S-sorry.” I climbed into the passenger seat, buckling myself in. I took my phone out—which had miraculously stayed in my pocket the whole time—and scrolled mindlessly through social media until we arrived home.


	2. Road Safety Laws Are Ignored

As soon as I got to my room, I crashed directly onto my bed. And I mean I fell  _ flat like a board _ onto it, to the point where I almost bounced back up. I groaned loudly. There, I got my frustrations out.

I stood back up and sat down at my swivel chair, booting up my computer. I waited for it to load, before typing in the password in the very specific beat I memorized. If I didn’t type it in that way, I probably would never get it. It was just one of those weird things in life. I didn’t understand it, but I didn’t really care. 

I opened Google, clicking the search bar and typing whatever I could about extremely realistic dreams, but all I could find were dreams where you’re  _ aware  _ you’re dreaming. I was still figuring that part out.

I tried another tactic. I searched instead for what the girl I ran into could be. Nothing. Just some random quotes from books and anime characters. That definitely didn’t help. 

Was it possibly a hallucination? Or would the correct term be delusion, since I believed it? I didn’t think hallucinations and delusions could physically harm me, though. I searched for that. All I could find was “tactile hallucinations”, which usually don’t involve the person having them to be physically harmed. That’s certainly not what happened. 

I sighed. It was going to take very long for me to find what I needed. For that moment, I decided I’d get up and get some water. Maybe it’d clear my thoughts, who knows. 

I searched through the cupboard to find a good cup, humming a tune from some song I’d listened to on loop the night before. I filled it up in the sink, waiting for the water to stop bubbling, before taking a sip. It felt nice, since I hadn’t drank anything in a while. 

I stared out the window. Well, actually, I just stared at the blinds, watching as the sun shone through the cracks. Because of the lack of light, the kitchen was a peaceful bluish tint, which was an optimal spacing-out-whilst-drinking-water hue. There was also that familiar scent of Febreze in the room that never went away. It was always way too strong, and I’m pretty sure it rubbed off on me.

I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see my uncle standing in the kitchen entryway.

“Hey, kid. Are you alright? You’ve been looking a bit too down to have just hit your head and fallen. Did something happen?” A worried expression graced his face.

“I’m fine,” I answered flatly. 

The man gave a tired sigh. “I’m worried about you, Shuichi. Your grades have been dropping, you haven’t been sleeping as well, and you managed to give yourself a concussion by tripping over your own feet. Is there something bothering you? You can always talk to me.”

I took a deep breath. Maybe I could tell him. Perhaps it ran in the family to have hallucinations. I pursed my lips. Oh god, don’t cry. I forced myself to maintain a calm composure.

“I, ah, think I hallucinated, actually. I’m not sure, though, but it kinda...scared me. A lot.” My voice quivered a bit.

“You hallucinated? Do you want to tell me what it was? I could probably help you out here. I could take you to get medically diagnosed to stop the hallucinations, if they bother you that much.” I considered that. I already had medication for my anxiety as well as my ADHD, but I usually forgot to take it. 

“I...guess?” I paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain my hallucination. “So, I was in the hallway, kind of. And there was this girl there. Um, when I.” I took a breath, stuttering a bit. “When I walked past her she...called my name? And she said she knew me, and said my eyes were pretty and that she was going to “take them”, and then she...jumped on top of me? And her hair became, like, fire, I think. And her eyes started glowing. Oh, and her hand was a claw. But then I heard a yell and I think Mr. Komaeda made her go away somehow, and the last thing I saw was him standing over me. It was probably all just a dream or something, though.”

My uncle stared at me, completely shocked. 

“That’s...how did they find you? I thought I protected you enough.” He began to pace back and forth in a panic. 

“Wh-what? What’s wrong?” I felt an anxiety attack coming in. 

“God, I thought I wouldn’t have to do this yet. Kid we..we gotta get you out of here. As soon as possible. Pack a bag with essentials,  _ now _ .” He went to go grab his keys. 

“What? Why?!” I had to know why we had to leave so suddenly.

“Don’t ask questions, it’ll make it worse. You’ll find out when you get there, I promise.” I watched as he rushed into our coat closet, rummaging around for something. I really wanted the full picture, but I assumed it was an emergency, so I ran to my room and started shoving clothes into a duffel bag. When I’d assumed I got enough, I put any toiletries I needed in as well, and ran to the car, where my uncle was waiting.

I got in, and immediately buckled my seatbelt, throwing my bag down at my feet. My uncle started the car and handed me a baseball cap. It was black with a grey brim, having three white stripes on the right side as well as a small star sewn on.

“Take this,  _ don’t _ put it on, just hold it. You’ll need it, trust me.” I didn’t question that. 

We backed out of the garage and sped through the neighborhood. I didn’t even care how fast we were going. All I knew was that I had to get away  _ fast _ . I held onto the hat tightly, practically squeezing it.

We exited the suburbs and entered the city. I watched fearfully as the buildings and people flew by. We’d headed out just before rush hour, meaning we’d just barely gotten there before the traffic. I looked around, wondering if anyone was following us. Could that be the danger? Maybe that girl in the hallway was following. I prayed that I’d never see her again. 

The buildings began to become more sparse, and instead were replaced by open fields, which then turned to forest. How could this possibly be more safe? Not many people lived out there, sure, but that only meant we’d have less people to go to for help in case we got in danger. I scanned the treelines. The road turned to gravel, and the houses and cabins were more spaced out. Were we going to isolate ourselves? Would I be able to see Kaede again? 

We stopped in the middle of the road.

“This is as far as I can take you, I’m sorry. Get out of the car, take your things, and run in that direction.” He pointed diagonally into the forest. “Don’t stop until you see an arch and a camp. You need to go into the camp and tell them monsters are after you and you need to stay there. Show them the hat. I might not see you in a very long time, but it’s for both of our safety, I promise.” He looked close to tears. I was too, honestly.

“What?” I didn’t want to never see him again. 

“Just, please, Shuichi, just get out and run. I love you.” My uncle gave me a quick hug, and shooed me out. 

He turned the car around and headed in the other direction. I decided not to wait. I broke into a run and sprinted in the direction he pointed. My heart was pounding, and adrenaline was coursing through my body. What could he mean by “monsters”? There were so many thoughts and worries clouding my head.

I snapped twigs and crunched on leaves, not even caring about the noise I was making. The faster I could get to safety, the better. I wondered what sort of camp I was even looking for. Maybe my uncle pointed in the wrong direction? 

All of a sudden, my foot caught on a branch, and I fell flat to the ground. Leaves, rocks, and sticks cut and bruised me, but I stood up and continued my running. I still had my bag and hat with me. Good. 

A gust of strong wind blew, once again knocking me off my feet. I tried to stand up again, but another gust blew, even stronger. That was weird. I looked behind me. My heart dropped a thousand feet. 

Behind me was some...thing. It was vaguely human shaped, but was purple and cloudy, with glowing white eyes. It laughed darkly. I was swept up in the wind, being flipped and toyed with by the creature. I held onto what I had with me as tight as possible, screaming for help. 

Despite my best effort, the hat flew out of my grasp.

“NO!” I cried. 

I tried my hardest to suppress the need to puke as I was tossed back and forth by the malicious being. 

“HEY!” A voice behind me shouted. I tried to turn around, but the force of the wind kept me from doing that. A figure flew directly at the monster, and I was dropped to the ground. 

“Ow,” I groaned as I hit the floor. I’d definitely have some damage. 

After a lot more shouting (and laughing?) I couldn’t hear the spirit anymore. 

“Nyahaha! Good job! Now we just have to help him back to camp. Tenko, can you pick him up?” A voice, cheerful and with a small accent, said.

“Ew. I can’t believe I have to help out a degenerate,”Another voice, loud and a bit scratchy, complained. I assumed that was Tenko. 

“I can make him fall asleep so he can’t look at you if you.” A yawn. “want,” a third voice, high pitched and drawling, offered.

Suddenly, my thoughts blurred. 

I found myself once again in darkness. A blue light filled my vision. I was in what appeared to be a dark cave. Someone stood in front of me, wearing a hood over their head and facing in the opposite direction. In front of them was a glowing blue orb.

“I did it. As you asked, of course. The prophecy can’t come true,” they whispered. 

A booming voice cut in, “Good work. We cannot have-” It cut off. Stopping for a second. “Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop, Shuichi Saihara?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this surely was a ride, huh? literally. 
> 
> ahah im so funny. aha. hahha.


	3. I Am Actually Half God, Apparently

My eyes flew open, and I sat up, my heart racing. Once again, I awoke in a place that was definitely not my room. I was in some sort of...log cabin, with several other beds around me. An odd place to be. 

What was even more odd, however, was the life-sized doll with springy purple hair sitting in one of the chairs looking directly at me, its wide, heterochromatic eyes (one a piercing yellow and the other a deep purple) staring into my soul. If the people here thought having _that_ here would bring me comfort, they were wrong.

I squinted at it. “That’s creepy.”

“Wow, thanks!”

I screamed. I was mistaken. That was, in fact, not a doll and, in actuality, a human person. 

“I-I-I’m so sorry, I thought, uh, I-I thought you were a-a doll,” I spluttered, hoping that would suffice. 

“A DOLL!?” The kid burst into hysterical laughter, “THAT’S one I haven’t heard before!” 

The doll-person-hybrid-thing laughed so hard he almost fell off the chair he was seated in. My face burned hot with embarrassment.

“Omigod, I’m sorry that was, WOW, that’s funny.” He let out one big snort of laughter. “Alright, alright, I’m done. Man, thanks Tyche for blessing me with the chance to be here and freak out the new kid when he wakes up.” 

I had no idea what he meant by that last sentence, but I decided to ignore it. He handed me a cup of honey colored liquid.

“Drink this.” I did as he said. It tasted like tea. The best tea I’d ever had, actually. A bit bitter, but not in a bad way.

“What is this stuff?” 

“Nectar. It heals you, but if you drink too much, you’ll explode!” He did an exploding motion with his hands. Somehow, I didn’t doubt that.

“So, what’s your name?”

He poked his cheek. “Why, I’m Joseph Jack Jimmy Jonathan Johnson, of course! Haven’t you heard of me?” 

“Um, no? Sorry.”

He immediately went from “curious small child” to “incredibly sad small child on the verge of tears” within a matter of seconds. “Y-you haven’t?”

“Ah! Uh, maybe I have, I just don’t remember. I’m not sure.” I made a feeble attempt to save myself.

“I’m kidding! You don’t have to lie to me. That’s not my name, anyway.” Oh, good. I felt bad lying to a young kid. Actually how old was he?

“Uh, pardon me for asking, but how old are you?”

“Wow, don’t you know it’s rude to ask someone their age? Before you even know my name, even!” I was about to stutter out a quick apology, but he continued, “That was a lie. I’m fifteen, and that’s the truth!” Oh. We were the same age. 

“And your name is…”

“Shuichi Saihara!” I was taken aback in surprise. There was no way we had the same name. “Oh, don’t look so shocked! I was joking.” Ah, as suspected. I noticed the pattern, “My real name is Kokichi Ouma, and I am THE supreme leader of camp!”

“...camp?” So I was where I needed to be. I hoped.

“Yep! Camp Half Blood. THE best demigod camp in the whole WORLD. Don’t let those stinky Romans over at Camp Jupiter tell you otherwise!” He winked. Specifically with the yellow eye.

“Demigod? You said demigod?” I’d heard that correctly, right?

“Whaaaaaaat? I never said demigod!” I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. “But that was just a lie. Again. I definitely said demigod, and I meant it!” 

“And you mean it in the context of “half god, half human”?” I questioned further. He nodded enthusiastically. “So you’re saying that _you_ are half _god_?”

“Not just me, dummy! You are too!” He leaned over and tapped me on the nose. I recoiled ever so slightly at the touch.

“I...am?” 

“Yep!”

I realized something at that moment.

“You know who my mom is?” I asked, hoping I would finally get the answers I needed.

“Nope.” he popped the ‘p’. “You weren’t claimed and there was nothing with you to identify her, sorry! I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

My realization and excitement turned to a sudden sadness. Maybe I’d never find out who she was. I was stricken with despair. Where would I even stay? Did they separate them by their parents? I wouldn’t get to have an immediate clique of people I could relate to, either. I would be the odd one out. Again. 

I’d wanted to know who my mother was for _so_ long, and the one time I got an opportunity, I couldn’t figure it out. Whatever. I didn’t have time to think about that. I’d force it out of the gods if I had to. To keep myself from overthinking it, I changed the subject.

“So, who’s your, er, parent?” I asked.

“I thought you’d never ask! _My_ mother is none other than the goddess of love, Aphrodite! That’s where I get my charm from, of course.” Charm, right. If that’s what he wants to call “staring at people motionlessly so they think you’re a creepy doll”.

“Interesting…” 

Wait. 

Wait a damn minute.

“How’d you know my name earlier?!” I said all too quickly. He chuckled.

“Ya see, certain blonde haired-”

The door slammed open. 

“SHUICHI!” 

“Kaede?!” 

Before I could register what was happening, I was smothered in a hug.

“I’M SO SORRY I DIDN’T TELL YOU! I HAD MY SUSPICIONS AND-” Words began pouring out of her mouth at an incredible speed. I saw Kokichi do a puking motion in my peripheral. 

“Kaede? You’re a...a demigod!?” I exclaimed. _That_ would explain why she went away every summer, and why she’d disappeared.

“Yeah, I am. I’m-I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about it. I just couldn’t risk it,” she explained sadly, looking at the floor.

“That’s fine. So...your mom’s a god?” Her head perked back up.

“Dad, actually. But yes, he is,” she clarified.

“Oh. Who is he, then?” 

“My godly father is Apollo,” She supplied, doing awkward jazz hands. 

“That’s the sun one, right?” I hoped I got that right. I liked to think that I payed attention enough in Mr. Komaeda’s class to remember that.

“Yes, but he’s also the god of poetry, music, archery, and disease.” That certainly was an interesting combination of things to be the god of, but I guess I couldn’t judge. I had a weird set of things about me, too. 

“So do you have, like, magic and stuff?” I asked, trying not to be rude.

“Uh huh! Each demigod has specific abilities that tie in with their parent. I have very good accuracy, musical and artistic talent, and can curse people to speak in rhyming couplets.”

  
“I can confirm that last one,” Kokichi added. I wondered what he’d done to have that happen. I’d ask for the story later.

I turned to Kokichi. “What are your powers?” 

“You’ll find out!” He put a finger to his lips as if to shush me. “Now come on, we’ll show you around camp.” 

Kokichi grabbed my hand and marched us out of the cabin, Kaede trailing behind. I had a feeling this was going to be the start of a very weird experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell i love kaede and kokichi???


	4. My Teacher Is Confirmed To Also Be Half God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gonna clarify that this does take place where the actual pjo story is set. i know nothing about japanese geography im so sorry.

I took a whiff of the fresh air. It was midday, so the sun shone down on us brightly. 

“That.” Kaede pointed to the building we had just exited. “Is the big house. It’s where the Mr. D and Chiron stay, you’ll meet them later.” 

Kokichi led us further ahead through fields, and over a small creek, until we eventually reached a circle of cabins, with a wide range of sizes and designs. Lounging and playing about these cabins were several other people. There were a lot more demigods in the world than I thought there was, apparently. I wondered if any of them were my siblings. It felt sort of weird to think that, since I thought I was an only child my whole life. 

“These are the cabins, we’ve already dropped your stuff off at Hermes’ cabin, which is where you stay if you don’t know who your parent is,” Kokichi explained. He shoved open the door to the most rustic and traditional cabin. I winced as the door crashed into the wall and bounced backwards slightly. That was certainly one way to get their attention. Everyone in the cabin turned to me.

“NEW KID’S HERE!” He announced. Fantastic. A tall boy with green eyes and hair stood up and casually strolled over to me.

“Nice to meet you, kid. I’m Rantaro Amami, head of Hermes cabin. If you need any help, just ask.” He held out a hand. I shook it lightly, before retracting. My hand was probably sweaty and I don’t think he wanted to touch it for long.

“Your bed’s over there.” Rantaro pointed to the bed that had my bag on top of it.

I then remembered something. The hat! I needed to show it to them. I ran over to the bag and quickly started rummaging through it. 

Nope, nope, nope, nope. Where was it? 

After a good minute of searching, I came up empty.

“Why do you look so upset?” Kokichi asked blankly. 

“I...had this hat. I was supposed to show it to the people here. It might’ve explained something, I don’t know, but my uncle said I had to have it with me.” I grimaced.

“Do you know where it was last? Maybe it’s somewhere around here,” Rantaro suggested. 

“It flew out of my hands when I was attacked by some cloud monster thing. I thought that maybe the people who found me would’ve retrieved it. I guess not.” There was a moment of silence in the room.

Rantaro raised his hand. “I know it’s a bit early to be suggesting this, but, maybe you could go on a quest for it?” 

“Huh?” 

“A quest. A lot of demigods go on quests as a sort of beginning to their journey. Sometimes it’s to do something for a god, sometimes it’s to save someone, you get the deal.” Rantaro shrugged. “If you’re up for it, talk to me tomorrow after dinner. I have something that can help. For now, finish your tour.” 

“Alright...thanks,” I said. 

Kokichi practically dragged me out of the cabin, going straight to continuing. Looking around, I noticed what appeared to be a centaur. There was definitely a human torso and head, but the rest was horse. Kind of weird, but I wasn’t one to judge based on appearance. Talking to the centaur was....

“Mr. Komaeda?!” He looked at me in surprise, and the centaur man turned around.

“Ah, I see you’re awake,” The centaur spoke, “My name is Chiron, I train demigods to become heroes, as I have for many centuries. Nagito here was just telling me about your monster attack.”

“I’m so sorry Shuichi! I wasn’t aware you were already here. Forgive me, I shouldn’t have barged in and told your story, I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I’m so happy that someone as brilliant as you is a demigod like myself!” Mr. Komaeda gushed, clasping his hands together. 

“Um, thank you, Mr. Komaeda. But I don’t see how I could be seen as talented. I almost failed your class last trimester,” I admitted.

“Oh please, we’re not at school, you can call me Nagito. Besides, your uncle recently unenrolled you.” He made a sort of waving motion with his hand. “Anyway, I don’t think you see talent in the way I’m seeing it. You may not be good in school, but you have an incredibly analytical mind, and you figure things out very quickly. Talent is found in many different forms! Even when it’s guessing on almost every question on a test and somehow getting everything right.” He laughed a bit to himself.

“Oh. Thanks. So you’re a demigod too?” I asked.

“Ah, yes! I’m a son of Tyche, goddess of luck and fortune.” Wasn’t that the goddess who Kokichi thanked earlier? That explains it. 

“That’s interesting,” I concluded. 

“Not really, you’re a much more interesting subject. When did you get here, by the way?” I actually didn’t know the answer to that, but luckily, Kaede interjected.

“Just last night. Tenko, Himiko, and Angie were outside and found him close to the border being attacked by a storm spirit,” she explained.

“Ah, how lucky! My mother seems to favor you, Shuichi.” Nagito looked awfully excited, but I assumed it wasn’t because of the storm spirit part. 

“Alright, it’s been nice seeing ya, but we gotta bounce. This is only the second place we’ve shown him. Bye-bye now!” Kokichi insisted, once again dragging me away. 

“H-hey! Slow down!” I yelped.

“Sorry, that guy was kinda weird. I wanted to get us away,” he informed us. 

“That’s my teacher!” I told him, a bit irritated. 

“WAS your teacher,” Kokichi corrected, “Now come on, we’ll show you the rest of camp!”

* * *

We spent the next few hours exploring each part of Camp Half Blood. It certainly was a lot bigger than I imagined. Within the borders, there was a small forest, a lake, an arena, a forge, a rock climbing wall (with LAVA!) and a lot of other things. 

When the excruciatingly long tour was finally over, we went to our last stop; the dining pavilion. It was a large open area with long tables around it, and a fire in the middle that was about the size of a bathtub. 

“This is where we eat and stuff,” Kokichi began, “You have to sit with your cabin, though, so I’ll talk to you later!” He skipped off to a table which sat many other people who had similarly doll-like features, although different for each one. I made an assumption that that was a trait from Aphrodite. 

“I gotta go sit with my siblings, too. See ya!” Kaede backed away a bit before running over to another table, which was about 80% blonde kids. And thus I was abandoned.

“Hey, Shuichi! Over here!” A familiar voice called. It was Rantaro, waving me over. I went and sat down across from him.

“Hello,” I greeted my temporary cabin-mates. At least I hoped they were temporary. I didn’t exactly want to be stuck not knowing my mom my whole life. I looked around, seeing if there was anyone who looked like me, but alas, my search came up empty. I sighed. Maybe I would have to go on that quest. 

A few young girls, some with green hued skin, began to walk up to the tables and bring us food. It looked delicious.

“Don’t eat yet, we need to offer to the gods first.” Rantaro pointed to the fire pit. 

“Oh.”

“ATTENTION!” Chiron’s voice boomed through the area. The chatter ceased, and everyone turned to look at him. “We’ll now be making our offerings to the gods, going in order of cabin. Cabin 1, you’re up!” 

3 boys stood up from one of the tables; a smaller one with blue hair that stuck out partially to look like cat ears, a very tall one with violet hair that was spiked upwards, and another with swoopy white hair. All of them dropped small bits of their food into the fire. 

The young girl next to me with hair that resembled pickles tapped my shoulder.

“We’re Cabin 11,” she whispered. 

“Ah, thanks,” I murmured back.

After calling up several other cabins, in which I discovered Kaede’s cabin was cabin 7 and Kokichi’s was Cabin 10, it was our turn to go up. 

I watched the other people in my cabin put a small portion of food in, some muttering to it. I looked into the flames.

“Mom, if you’re hearing this, please tell me who you are. I want to know.” I dropped a bit of meat into the fire pit, watching as it slowly burned away. Nothing happened. There was no flash of light and a magic woman appearing and claiming me as her son. I just walked back to the table, staring at the ground. 

I ate my dinner disappointed in the fact that I didn’t get to know. After all these years, I had a right to, didn’t I? 

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” I looked up. Rantaro was giving me a sympathetic smile. “A lot of half-bloods take a while to find out who their parent is. You know Kokichi over there? His mom only claimed him after he’d convinced everyone that he was head of Hermes cabin. Some say that Aphrodite did it out of jealousy, but I’m not one to spread rumors.” He winked. I looked over to Kokichi, who was chatting with a sister of his with long blue hair. 

“Oh. That’s cool. I guess I’m just impatient. I’ve wondered who my parents were for almost my whole life. I didn’t know my dad for very long, and I had no idea I even had a mom until I was, like, 7.” I laughed. “I know, that’s stupid.”

“Nah, I understand. Took my dad a while to claim me too, even if I was already with family.” 

That talk made me feel a bit better, but I was still sad. 

No matter, I’d find out who my mom was eventually. This was only the first day, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come ON we all know rantaros totally a hermes kid. you just look at him and go "hermes,,,,".
> 
> wait what if. what if hes actually like. a demigod in canon. he has 12 sisters so. maybe theyre all gone from camp. woah. theory time
> 
> theres also going to be some side characters who i just made up in the next chapter lol


	5. A Fashion Model Visits Me In My Sleep

After being kept awake late by the overcrowded and loud Hermes cabin, I woke up the next morning to most of them gone. The only people left in the cabin were some boy with sandy colored hair getting dressed and the pickle girl, who was still fast asleep. 

I opened my bag to find a bright orange t-shirt with “CAMP HALF BLOOD” emblazoned on it. Folded within the shirt was a sticky note with an avocado drawn on it. What an interesting way to sign something. Assuming it was a gift from Rantaro (taking into account his avocado green hair) I put it on, covering it with the navy blue jacket I wore the day before.

After throwing on some cargo shorts, I left the cabin, yawning and stretching. 

“HEY!” I jumped. Kokichi was standing very close to me—which was weird, because I didn’t hear him come up—with an excited expression. Kaede stood behind him, her arms crossed looking amused. “Are you ready for today? Huh huh huh?” 

“Ready for what today, exactly?” I questioned, a bit confused as to what we would be doing that was so exciting.

“Weeeeeeeell, since you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you. Every time we get someone new here, we play a game of capture the flag! It’s super intense and fun and totally not boring!” He threw his hands up in the air. “There’s a particular daughter of Nemesis that I have to prove wrong, anyway.” He suddenly looked very determined.

“Oh. Like, how intense?” I imagined that maybe there’d be demigod powers that we could use. Maybe some kids just got really into it.

“Like, SWORDS and BOWS and ARROWS and WEAPONS INTENSE!” Kokichi cheered.

“ _ Real  _ weapons, or-”

“REAL WEAPONS!” 

I swallowed. I had to fight. With a real weapon.

“I know it’s a bit scary, but it  _ is  _ preparing you for quests and fights in the future, I promise you,” Kaede assured. “Besides, we’re not allowed to kill or maim, so you’ll be fine.”

“I...okay.” 

“Now come on, let’s go eat breakfast, we’ll meet you at the arena afterwards!” Kokichi pulled the two of us away.

I sat down at the Hermes table and got my food. We were only required to burn some in the fire during dinner, but it was still recommended. I filled my goblet with tea, and began to eat the bread and grapes I was provided. 

“So, you’re the one who ran into a  _ ventus  _ outside the border, right?” The sandy haired boy from before asked me. 

“Yeah, that was me,” I confirmed. He looked very amazed at that.

“And Tenko  _ didn’t _ beat you up afterwards?” 

“Um, no? I actually don’t know what she looks like. I’ve only heard her voice,” I admitted.

“She’s a daughter of Nike, hates boys, always has to win. Pretty competitive. Has these really long greenish colored pigtails. You better hope you’re on the same side during capture the flag,” he pointed out.

“Oh, thanks.”

I finished my food, and headed out to where I remembered the arena being. I hoped I was going in the right direction. 

“WAIT!” The tall boy with the spiky hair, who I remembered being in Cabin 1, came running up behind me. “Are you heading to the arena? I can teach you how to fight!” 

“Really? Thanks.” I stared at the ground. “Although, Kaede and Kokichi already invited me. That’s actually why I was going there.”

“Aw, come on, dude. I’m one of the best sword fighters here. I betcha Kokichi could barely pick one up.”

“Oh.” I looked to the side. This guy  _ was _ giving me the opportunity to make another friend. “Okay, I’ll train with you.”

“Great! I’m Kaito, by the way.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go!” He broke out into a run.

“Ah, wait!” I squeaked, trying to catch up.

* * *

We ran directly into the center of the arena. Kaito whooped loudly. Kokichi—who was wearing sparkly sunglasses and drinking out of a juice box—sat up, startled.

“Why are you here?” he whined.

“Because  _ I’m  _ gonna teach the new kid how to fight!” Kaito boasted, putting his hands on his hips. 

Kokichi raised an eyebrow. “Do you even know his name?” He drawled, taking a sip from his juice with a smug look on his face.

“I- Um. I actually...don’t,” He admitted. 

“It’s Shuichi,” I muttered.

“Huh? Couldn’t hear you there.” 

“It’s Shuichi!” I repeated, much louder. It slightly echoed.

“I’ve never heard you be that loud before! Good job, Shuichi,” Kaede chirped. 

I withdrew within myself. “Th-thanks, Kaede.” 

“Do either of you want to join in?” Kaito asked.

“Nope!” Kokichi said cheerfully.

“No thanks, I’m training later with Tenko.”

“ALRIGHT! Let’s begin the lesson already!” Kaito boomed. He grabbed two swords from the rack, handing one to me. 

For the next 2 hours, Kaito taught me proper sword fighting technique and stances. It was complicated stuff, but I figured it out fairly quickly. According to Kaito, I was a natural, which took me by surprise. It gave me a confidence boost. 

After we were done training (and I’d consumed a significant amount of water) I came up behind Kokichi, who was walking back to his cabin.

“Ah, Kokichi, wait.” He turned around, eyebrow raised. “Why didn’t you...train with us?”

He looked around suspiciously, before gesturing for me to come behind the cabin with me. I followed cautiously. 

“Okay, so, I don’t actually know how to sword fight. I didn’t want Kaito to find that out, though. He’d tell Maki and prove her point. So I refused.” He stared at me with a blank expression. 

“Oh. I’m sorry, Kokichi. I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” he responded quickly, turning to go into the cabin. I felt like I’d done something wrong. I pushed the guilt to the back of my head. It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t know, I shouldn’t get so worked up about this. It didn’t remove that annoying sinking feeling, but it helped clear my head a bit.

I decided I’d nap for a while. I crashed onto my bed, wrapping myself in blankets and staying like that until I fell asleep. 

In my dreams, I was in a red building, someone in a swivel chair turned around. She was gorgeous, with gigantic strawberry blonde pigtails sticking out of her head, pinned by two clips that appeared to be black and white bears. She looked like she could be a fashion model. 

“Wow, it worked! It’s  _ sooo _ nice to see you, Shuichi! I mean, it’s not every day you meet...nevermind. We’ll save that for later!” She spoke loudly, with a sassy tone. “Anyway! You’ll be seeing-” The area around her began to crackle and glitch. “Huh?” 

Suddenly, she morphed into a small, white bird, which flew away. In her place appeared a small girl with tired eyes and short red hair.

“Wh-what just happened?” I blurted.

“I felt that someone was invading your dreams, so I shooed them away,” she explained tiredly. “Anyway, you should probably wake up now. They’re gonna start capture the flag soon.”

She yawned and disappeared.

“Um, okay? Wake up!” Nothing. “I want to wake up now.” Again, nothing. “Please wake me up?” A hand touched my shoulder, causing my eyes to fly open in fright. 

Rantaro stood over me with a slightly shocked expression and a hand held in front of him.

“Sorry, you were talking in your sleep, so I woke you up. Anyway, we’re gonna start capture the flag soon. Meet at the edge of the north woods.” He walked to the open door, but before he left, he turned around and said, “By the way, you missed lunch. We were sorta worried about you. Try not to do that again.”

The embarrassment came back once again. 

I hopped out of bed and jogged to the spot Rantaro said to meet at. Sure enough, everyone was already there, with some coming in late. 

“Alright, kids,” a grumbly old man sitting in a lawn chair said with the least enthusiasm I’d ever heard, “It’s time to capture the flag. It’s self explanatory. Capture the opposing team's flag and bring it over the boundary to win. Weapons and armor are allowed, but don’t kill or maim.”

Chiron then took the stage. “For teams, we have Athena, Zeus, Hermes, Apollo, Hephaestus, Nemesis, Nike, and Iris on team blue. The rest are on team red. Go to your respective sides of camp and grab anything you need, the game will start when I blow the horn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> avocado,,,


	6. A Corpse Tells Me A Poem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i jus,,,really want kokichi and shuichi to be friends i thimk thatd be neat

Everyone I recognized from Hermes cabin began running left, so I assumed that was where we were supposed to go. I ran with them. There was a spot with several armor plates and weaponry to choose from. 

Rantaro handed me a short sword and some armor.

“Put these on, the Athena kids wanted you on defense.”

I tried my best to attach the armor to my body, but it was a bit too big for me.

“HEY! NEWBIE!” A blonde girl with messy hair wearing goggles and holding several gadgets came up to me. “I’m Miu, I’ll make you some damn good armor after this, just come over to the Hephaestus cabin, okay?” 

“Oh, thanks. I will.”

“Yeah, you better!” She nudged me playfully with her shoulder, before running off to the forest whilst cackling maniacally. 

I stationed myself next to the flag, readying my sword like Kaito told me to. The horn blew.

I was alone. 

.

.

.

This was more boring than I thought it’d be.

I began listening to the sounds of the swaying branches instead. It was pretty peaceful, honestly. I betted that the Athena cabin only put me right next to the flag because no one would ever get past the further defenses. I spaced out for a bit, wondering if I’d actually have to fight something.

 _Rustle, rustle_. I heard a noise. Coming from the bushes and trees. I raised my sword, looking around me for any danger.

“Is anyone there?” I dared. My heart felt like it was going to run away. 

Out of a bush, a small figure jumped out. They wore perfectly fitted armor and black clothes underneath, a helmet obscuring their face. Who was this?

The threat began slashing at me with their sword and frighteningly fast speeds. I made an attempt to block all of them, but they did something I didn’t expect. They took the flat end of their sword and hit me directly on the nose, knocking me over. They used that time to grab the flag and make a break for it. 

I stood up and chased after them, but they were surprisingly agile, jumping over sticks and bushes with ease. I dropped my sword, it was only making it more difficult.

“WAIT! HELP! SOMEONE HAS THE FLAG!” I cried, hoping someone would hear. No one came to my rescue. We were nearing the creek. I kept running.

I’d almost caught up. I could see the creek. I could see more people guarding it, too. I reached my arm out as far as I could. Almost there…

The creek was just a couple strides away. I grabbed the tuft of red that was sticking up on their helmet, yanking them as hard as I could. The person crashed down on top of me with a soft “ow”. My efforts were for nothing, though.

The blue team flag lay on the ground on the opposite side of the creek.

The horn blew again. 

“RED TEAM WINS!” 

The red team went off to cheer as a group. Mystery capture the flag winner pushed themself off me with a grunt and began walking away, presumably to join their team.

“Ah, wait!” I held out my hand. They turned around to face me. “I’m sorry I...pulled you backwards like that. Did I hurt you?”

They took a few steps back, putting their hands on their helmet and slowly pulled it off. My jaw dropped.

“No, I’m fine.” Kokichi smiled at me before turning and running in the opposite direction.

* * *

I spent dinner that night wondering why Kokichi lied to me. What was there to gain out of it? Rantaro noticed my worried expression.

“Are you okay? We’re not mad at you, if that’s it. The Athena cabin won’t try to throw you into the lake because you lost them the game. That’s why I made sure we were with them. Didn’t want you making the Ares cabin mad on only your second day.” He chuckled. 

“Oh, thanks, I guess.”

“It’s no problem. Even if we’re not siblings, I’m still gonna take you in as if you were my little brother, and that means I’ll give you these talks when you’re down, okay?” A kind smile made its way onto his face. I nodded and looked back to my food. 

I ate small bits, but my overwhelming thoughts took over. I really needed to “whelm myself”, as an old friend would tell me. I wondered what he was doing. 

While I was pondering the current state of someone I hadn’t seen in years, I noticed Kokichi stand up and leave his table. He was already pretty far away by the time I got up from my seat. 

I jogged over to him. 

“Kokichi, wait!” He turned around, with a bored expression. “I wanted to know...why you lied to me. About not being able to sword fight, I mean.”

“Can’t you figure that out yourself?” Kokichi deadpanned. I was taken aback.

“I can’t read your mind, you know!” I snapped. I think both of us were shocked by the sudden outburst. People started to stare.

A hand went onto my shoulder. It was Kaede. 

“You may just want to leave him be, Shuichi,” she consoled. 

“No!” I shouted. “I want to know _why_ you lied to me, Kokichi.”

He sighed. 

“Fiiiiine. I’ll tell you.” He looked me dead in the eyes. “I didn’t want you to hold back. I didn’t want you to realize it was me and not want to hurt me. Tell me the truth, Shuichi. Would you have held back if you knew you were fighting me?”

“I…” I tried to come up with a response.

“You can’t lie to me.”

“I guess I...would’ve,” I admitted.

“You care about people too much,” he scoffed. “People will lie to you sometimes. People will betray you. Especially in the demigod world.” 

He turned to leave, but froze as soon as he saw a greenish mist begin forming. From behind a pillar came what appeared to be a rotting corpse, in which the foggy substance was billowing out of. It was...gross, but I was too scared to do anything.

A voice began echoing.

_An item that’s been left behind,_

_Has made its way to the unkind,_

_Three shall retrieve it, they must prepare,_

_To bring down the queen of despair,_

_What was lost, will be revealed,_

_The Last One’s fate shall be sealed._

The corpse collapsed, and the fog dissipated. Everyone was staring at our trio. The air was completely still. 

Chiron spoke, “It appears you three have been given a quest. Come with me, we must prepare you to leave tomorrow morning. Everyone else, head back to your cabins.” 

And thus, me, Kaede, and Kokichi all followed Chiron in silence, occasionally looking back and forth at each other, wondering just what this might entail.

  
  



	7. Chiron Prepares Us For Our Possible Demise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> side note: this does take place in the US so i can kinda stay true to the pjo books. this is an au im allowed to do that.

“So,” Chiron began, looking at all of us around the table, “It appears the three of you have been chosen for a quest by the Oracle.”

I raised my hand.

“Shuichi?” 

“What is the Oracle, exactly?” 

Kaede piped up. “The Oracle is what gives us prophecies for our quests! Usually, you have to go up to the attic to find her, but it seems like she sought us out herself.”

“Very good, Kaede.” She smiled bright like the sun. “Yes, we’ll set you out tomorrow. It’ll be best. I would just like to go over any questions you may have about your upcoming journey, since we have someone new here.”

Kokichi slouched back in his chair and groaned.

“How far will we have to go for this quest?” 

“I am not sure, however, I did request someone who may be able to help you track the item you’re looking for. It’s a hat, no?” I nodded. “Alright, you may enter.”

Rantaro casually entered the small meeting room, holding up what appeared to be a compass.

“What’s that?” I asked, staring at it with a quizzical expression.

“It’s a compass, as it looks, but it can search for items.” He handed it to me. “All you have to do is have the item you want to find in mind, and say the name of it. It’ll point in the direction you need to go for it.”

“Okay…” I inhaled slowly, then exhaled. I pictured the hat. I remembered holding it tightly in my lap as we sped through the woods. “My hat?” 

The compass began spinning faster and faster. I watched in awe as it eventually slowed down and stopped.

“It’s pointing west,” Rantaro confirmed. “You just have to follow it until you find the item.”

“Do you know how long we’ll have to quest for?” Kokichi butted in almost immediately.

“Nope, it doesn’t tell you exactly how far away it is. Just what direction. You’ll know you found it when the compass starts spinning again.”

Kokichi sighed loudly.

“Hey, I think it’ll be fun,” Kaede said, trying to lighten up the mood. “Personally, I’m excited, I haven’t gone on a quest in a while!” 

“You’ve been on a quest?” I was a bit surprised that Kaede had done this before, I thought it was an uncommon thing.

Kaede nodded. “I sure have!”

“Yeah, demigods go questing AAAAAAAALL the time!” Kokichi added, throwing his hands into the air.

“Oh.”

So I would be going into this inexperienced? What if they knew more than me? What if they left me behind because I was weak? Kokichi was very good with swords (and I had no idea what kind of godly abilities he had) and Kaede was already pretty strong. I’d be the weird one. I’d only just started training with a sword, while those two had probably been training for years.

Someone kicked my leg from under the table.

“Listen. To. The. Meeting,” Kokichi whispered sternly, punctuating each word with a kick. He turned to the speaker. “Chiron, could you repeat that? I couldn’t really hear what you were saying.”

Chiron sighed, but began explaining again. “You will be driven out of camp by Argus, and from then on you will need to find other methods of transportation. We do not know how long your trip will take, however, there are demigods dispersed all throughout the country. I’d recommend that when you need to find places to stay, you contact Nagito, as we will usually be busy here at camp. Only turn your location on when you need to know exactly where you are, and do not under  _ any _ circumstances call anyone. Broadcasting your voice will lead monsters right to you.”

“Excuse me, but, h-how will we contact, er, Nagito if we can’t call anyone?” I asked.

“I assume no one has explained Iris messaging to you yet, then. That’s fine, we’ll teach you tomorrow, but it is a way for half-bloods to contact anyone they need to without the trouble of attracting danger.” 

“Ah, thanks,” I muttered. I looked down at the table, feeling a bit embarrassed that I didn’t know that. 

Chiron explained the rest of the procedures for our travelling. I listened intently, trying my best to get as much info as I could out of it. If I failed this, I’d never be able to live it down. Hell, I might not have even been able to  _ LIVE _ if I failed it. 

Once the meeting ended, we were escorted back to our cabins (with Kokichi whining about how we missed the campfire). 

Being the furthest, I walked into Cabin 11 without a goodbye, just a nod in my direction and the sound of hooves clopping away.

Opening the door slowly, I found that several of my temporary siblings were awake and causing a bit of a ruckus. Two of them were tossing a stuffed animal between their beds, another was being chased around, someone was beating up a pillow with about 3 others cheering them on. I tried my best to squirm my way to my bed, snuggling myself into a ball under my blankets.

.

.

.

That night I dreamt of a city, cloudy and cold, probably late afternoon. 

A small boy with messy dark hair was curled up in the corner of an alley with a large stick, holding onto it like if he let go he’d die. He whimpered softly, eyes shifting about for any movement. He looked terrified, as if something was after him.

A young woman with grey eyes and short black hair, probably in her early twenties, stepped into the alleyway. The boy jumped up, his body shaking, but his stance strong. He pointed his stick towards her.

“D-don’t hurt me!” He cried. A look of pity came over the woman.

“I’m….not here to do that,” she said, with an intimidatingly blank expression.

“Are-are you a,” the boy sniffled, “monster?” 

“No, I am not. You ran into them?” The boy nodded. The grey-eyed woman paused for a moment, looking to the side, before returning her gaze to him.

“I have somewhere I can take you. Come with me.” 

“B-but my dad always told me not to trust...strangers.” He looked at the ground.

“I’ve fought the monsters for years. You need to come with me now, though. You’ll be in danger soon.” 

“Okay…” He stepped closer to her. Without a word, she spun around and began walking quickly, the boy running to catch up. 

I watched as they faded off into the distance, wondering who they were. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woowoowowo mystery people in a dream have you guessed who they are?


	8. I Am Prepared For My Doom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didnt really read through before posting because its 2am right now. so. :/
> 
> anyway, hope you enjoy msdkgdsghfdsghsg

That morning I was woken up at some extremely early hour by Rantaro, telling me that Kaito was requesting to train with me. After getting myself ready, I blearily stepped outside. 

Kaito, as promised, was standing there waiting for me, looking way too energized considering the current time.

He clapped a hand onto my shoulder, causing me to jump.

“Are you ready to start training? You gotta be ready when you face those monsters!” He boomed. 

“Y-yeah, I think so,” I said, although it may have been a lie. I was absolutely not ready to do  _ anything  _ yet. Alas, on my third day of camp I was being shoved out and put right back into the world that tried to kill me. 

The next few hours was spent training nonstop, mainly with swords, but also with the many other options for training Camp Half Blood had in store. Fortunately for me, I got to skip out on the lava wall. I wasn’t ready to be burned alive before my first quest.

After it was finally over, I was drenched in sweat and wanted to pass out. I splayed myself out in the grass.

“Hey man, have some water or something, you’re gonna have to go in like, an hour.” Kaito handed me a water bottle and I sat up. I ended up chugging almost half of it in one go. 

“Yeah, I-I know.”

I regained my strength and stood, wobbling a bit. 

“You should go to your cabin and pack some stuff. I believe we have a couple spare backpacks in case you don’t want to bring your regular bag. Do you want me to bring you one?” 

“Sure, that’d be great.” 

Kaito ran off, so I went to Cabin 11. I took out everything I thought I would need, folding it up in my blankets. Everyone else had gone off to breakfast, so I wouldn’t have to worry about them seeing where I put my stuff, but I was afraid they might take something while I was gone.

Making sure I had everything important, I headed off to go eat, walking past Kaito holding a blue backpack, who waved and sprinted to my cabin. 

Sitting down at the table, several children of Hermes began cheering for me, and congratulating me for getting a quest this early on. I was told that several children of Ares had sworn rivalries against me. I found that pretty funny, that a bunch of tough, strong, and fierce people were so angry at some scrawny, antisocial kid, who just so happened to be unlucky enough to get a quest on his second day, that they would swear to be my enemy. I was also very terrified, as one glance at their table would prove that almost all of them were larger than me and intimidating. I almost hoped I wouldn’t come back from my quest, because what they could do to me was probably worse. 

Finishing up, I trekked back to Hermes’ cabin. 

“Hey, are you excited for today?” I turned around, seeing Kaede, bright like the sun as always. Probably an Apollo thing. 

“Uh, I guess.”

“I can tell you’re nervous, Shuichi. I understand that. The first quest is always the most stressful. The rest just feel like an annoying task.”

“I’m just....afraid. Like, you guys have been on quests before, but I’m brand new to this.”

“That’s alright! Let’s focus on something else. What do you think the lines of the prophecy meant? I’m pretty sure the first line is talking about your hat, but I’m stumped on the rest. I mean, who’s the ‘Last One’? And why’s their fate going to be sealed?” She wondered.

I put a hand to my face and thought for a moment. Could it be? No. Maybe. I wasn’t sure. I thought of the myth of Zeus taking down Kronos (one of the lessons I was not asleep for). 

“Perhaps, and this is just an idea, the ‘Last One’ is Zeus? He was the youngest of K-”

“Names have power, Shuichi. Be careful.”

“O-oh. Sorry.” I looked at the ground. “I was just thinking, he was the youngest, and therefore the last one.”

“That is a good theory.” She nodded. “Well, you should probably get going to your cabin, I don’t wanna distract you or anything. Meet you at the entrance arch!”

With Kaede leaving, I was left to walk the rest of the way alone. As expected, I found the backpack that Kaito had with him on top of my bed. I shoved everything I needed into it, double checking in case I forgot anything important. I did  _ not  _ want to be a few hours into the trip and realize I forgot a pair of pants. There. Everything was in.

I flopped down onto my back, staring blankly at the ceiling. I really was about to do this. I wondered if they told my uncle about my quest. He’d probably be worried sick. I hoped that he was alright, and that my absence was keeping him out of danger. Or maybe he was a demigod? Note to self, ask him the next time you see him. I pulled the backpack under my chin, hugging it tightly. I prayed to every Greek god I’d caught the name of in the various history classes I’d been in that I would be safe. 

The door of the cabin flew open. I whipped my head over to face whoever had entered, feeling very awkward that they had witnessed me clinging onto a backpack like I’d die if I let go. Luckily, it was just Rantaro, who I’d already made an impression on. He leaned casually against the doorframe.

“Hey, we were worried about you, since you’ve been taking a while. Kokichi demanded I go make sure you hadn’t decided to run away last minute. Are you okay?” He quirked up an eyebrow. I looked at him like a nervous little kid, shrinking in on myself a bit. 

“I guess.”

“S’fine if you’re nervous, dude. It’s your first quest, it’s always scary when you don’t know what to expect.”

I nodded and turned back to the very interesting ceiling. 

“You should actually get out there, though. Kokichi may be tiny, but he  _ will  _ explode on you if you ruin anything for him.” 

Hearing that, I sat up quickly, swinging the backpack over my shoulder. Rantaro chuckled. 

“I see you don’t want to get yelled at in front of everyone. Good move, better run, I’ll catch up.”

With that, I ran out the door. 

I passed by a couple people, some of which shouted at me (some were nice, some definitely were  _ not _ ). I almost tripped over a couple rocks and sticks in my haste, which would be very unfortunate. Luckily, that did not happen.

Finally, I made it to the arch, where a crowd of people had gathered. 

“I’m here, I’m here!” I announced, out of breath. I stood hunched over for a minute, panting. I really need to never run for that long  _ ever _ again.

“There you are!” Kaede jogged over to me. She cocked her head to the side. “Ready?”

“Yeah I...think so.”

“You better be!” Kokichi called, his hands on his hips, staring at me with an impatient expression. 

“I am. Are we leaving?” I looked around at the group that was there, for some reason.

“We’re all here to send you off,” Chiron explained. 

“But!” Kokichi butted in, “You have to carry the tent bag to the car because you were late.” 

Kaede opened her mouth, seemingly to protest, but Kokichi gave her a glare that was actually pretty scary for someone who’s 5’1 and looks like he’s 10.

“He does.” 

Kaede shut her mouth. I began to wonder if the whole “getting people to do stuff” was a power of his. It would explain a couple things, but I decided not to bring it up in case I was wrong. I hated being wrong. 

All of the demigods that had gathered said their goodbyes, with Kaede almost being toppled over by a bunch of them (most of which were blonde, leading me to assume they were her siblings). 

A couple people I recognized from the Hermes cabin came to meet me. 

“I didn’t really talk to ya much, but I’m hopin’ your quest goes well!” A girl with hazel eyes and dark brown hair nudged me with her elbow. 

“Hope you get claimed, dude! I sure wish  _ my  _ parent would claim me,” another one, who I believe was one of the people being chased around the cabin, gave me a smile. 

“Hey kid, best of luck.” Rantaro popped out of seemingly nowhere to say that, startling me. 

“Ah, thanks guys.”

“ALRIGHT EVERYONE! As nice as it is seeing you all here to send these three off on their quest, they do need to be going,” Chiron announced. The crowd dispersed, moving away from us. I was the center of attention again. Wonderful. “Go through the forest until you find the road, it shouldn’t be too far.”

We said our final goodbyes, and everyone left the three of us alone to navigate through the woods. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im baaaaaaaack
> 
> i wonder how many people feel excited when they see my fic has updated-
> 
> probably not many but one can dream


	9. I Don't Think Sleepovers Are Supposed To Be This Chaotic

Unlike the last time I was in the woods, nothing surprising happened. We didn’t even look suspicious. Just three teenagers out in the woods camping. What _was_ surprising was what I saw when we got to the car. 

To preface, with a name like Argus, I wasn’t exactly expecting something normal. However, when a very tall man with eyes covering his entire body is standing in front of you, you can’t help but be shocked. It actually left me standing still in fear for a few seconds, thinking that maybe it was a monster, but when Kokichi and Kaede walked up with seemingly no hesitation, I realized that that was our chaperone. Okay, I just have to pretend I didn’t stare too much and hopefully he won’t say anything. 

“Um, hello.” I gave a very small wave. Argus just looked at me, which was very unnerving considering he had a LOT of eyes, and nodded.

Praying he didn't hate me, I got into the car, laying the tent bag across the three of us.

"Oh my god, give me that." Kokichi snatched it, and somehow managed to shove the whole thing into his small, lavender backpack.

"H-huh? How did you-"

"My bag is an infinite void,” he interrupted nonchalantly.

Oh. I wasn't very surprised at that point. Learning you're half god really desensitizes you to finding out things are magical. An infinite void bag was probably one of the least weird things I’d come across.

I then realized something.

"Why'd you make me carry it then!?" 

"Just wanted you to have consequences for making us all wait." He shrugged, smirking.

I sighed, but decided not to fight him over that. It wasn't that bad anyway. 

The car began driving away. I pressed my cheek against the window and stared blankly at the passing scenery. I didn't feel like focusing on anything. It all flew by like how a painting looks before an artist actually puts detail into it, so it just looks like a bunch of blobs of color spread around haphazardly. 

Time passed, but I didn't really pay attention to it. Occasionally I'd turn to the others to see what they were up to. Nothing particularly interesting. Sometimes Kokichi’d point out something to Kaede, like a weird billboard ad, and she’d roll her eyes and laugh. Maybe one of them would say something particularly odd and me and the other person in the car would give them a weird look.

Halfway through, I blacked out; because when I opened my eyes to see Kokichi and Kaede getting out of the car, I assumed we’d arrived at our destination. It seemed we were in a parking lot, with a grassy tree area surrounding us, and what appeared to be a park close by. 

I slowly left the car and walked over to Kokichi, since he was closest. He was blinking oddly, almost as if he was repeatedly (and very poorly) trying to wink at the sky.

“Are...you okay?” I asked. 

“M’fine. Happens. Don’t worry. Is there anything you need?” He didn’t turn his head, only seeming to acknowledge my presence. 

“This is where we’re getting out, right?” 

“Yep! Make sure you didn’t leave anything in the car. Argus’ll leave once he doesn’t see us anymore.” He rubbed his eyes and turned to me. “We should go meet Kaede. She likes to scout out the area first. Take out the compass and come with me.”

I pulled out our handy-dandy hat finder and followed Kokichi to where Kaede was; at the edge of the parking lot surveying our surroundings.

“KAEDEEEEEE!” Kokichi shrieked, accidentally earning the attention of a couple people who were getting out of their cars. A mother with a baby and a toddler by her side gave us an irritated look. Ouch. Probably thought we were some annoying teenagers. I mean, we kind of were, but not exactly the type she was thinking of. 

“Hey guys! Just trying to figure out what the safest place to go to would be. I say we try to find somewhere we can camp out by evening. Somewhere without a lot of people, in case we run into a monster. I’d rather not end up on the news again.” Kaede groaned. 

“You...ended up on the news?” I inquired. I didn’t remember that.

“Yeah, you probably didn’t see it because it wasn’t around here. We had to go pretty far for a quest and did something stupid that ended our group up on the local news. It happens to demigods pretty frequently.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.” 

“You haven’t lived in the demigod world most of your life, so I don’t blame you.” Kaede smiled.

“YEAH it’s like _totally_ dangerous! We’ll probably run into like, a _ton_ of monsters to fight during this!” Kokichi exclaimed and threw his arms into the air.

“Hey, can’t the people around us...hear us? What if they see a monster?” I whispered, hoping Kokichi didn’t once again bring us unwanted attention.

“Oh psh! We have the mist to cover up all the stuff that mortals shouldn’t see. Besides, they’ll forget about it in a while if they do hear, and if they don’t they’ll just sound crazy if they try to tell anyone!” 

“But...what if someone _does_ believe them? We can’t leave any cracks open, can we?” 

“It’s _fiiiiine_. Calm down Shuichi “everything needs to be perfect” Saihara!” He crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out like a child. 

“Let’s get back on track, guys,” Kaede said, snapping to get our attention, “I think once we get to a place where we can set up camp, we should call Nagito and see if he knows anyone in the area that we can stay with for the next day.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.” I shrugged. 

“Then let’s head out!” Kokichi jumped ahead and pointed ahead all leader-like, eyes shining with enthusiasm. Although overbearing at times, his attitude was admirable. 

* * *

The three of us began moving west, the direction the arrow was still pointing. At least we knew it hadn’t been moved. We passed through the rest of the park, and eventually made our way to a sidewalk lining a busy street. 

It was midday at that point, and the late-spring sun beat down on us. I tied my jacket around my waist, but my backpack still clung to my back uncomfortably. I assumed that was just the perils of being a demigod on a quest, and endured it. 

Some people gave us weird looks, seeing as we were a bunch of lone kids wearing shirts for some camp with a very odd name, but Kaede assured me they’d forget about us soon enough. At least I had reassurance that I wouldn’t be remembered! Okay, that’s mean, I take that back. 

Kokichi was going on and on about something I’d been tuning out. After a while, you learned to do that with him. You did assume that whatever he was talking about was pretty exciting, because he bounded up and down, spun around, skipped, laughed, etc.

It was pretty nice, actually. To be walking with your friends as the afternoon slowly faded, one of them excitedly jumping around and talking while the other occasionally chuckled at his animatedness. The golden sunlight spilled onto us as the daylight hours began to ebb away, making it look like a perfect picture that’d be hung on your bedroom wall, forever captured as a moment in time. I considered pulling out your phone and taking a picture, but unfortunately it was buried at the bottom of my backpack, and I wasn’t supposed to use it unless I absolutely needed to. I sighed. Should’ve brought a camera. 

I stared off at the now yellow-orange sky, watching the clouds lazily drift by. The streets had quieted down by then, cars puttering by, but not many people on the sidewalks. It was pretty late to be walking, anyway. 

We made it to another park, deciding to choose it as our rest spot. Sure, it was probably illegal to camp out in a public park, but as Kokichi had explained before, we didn’t really have to worry about that. I sure hoped he was right. 

Using the magical power of teamwork, our trio set up the tent. Of course, not without any issues; as I’d never set up a tent before, Kaede didn’t know how this one in particular worked, and Kokichi was too short to get some of the poles in place. It was a disaster, sure, but it worked out in the end. After 30 excruciating minutes of yelling at each other, tripping over things, and the general annoyance of putting together a tent: it was finally finished.

Kokichi stood in front of it proudly, hands on his hips.

“Ah, our masterpiece, finally finished!” He announced. I rolled my eyes. Only the self proclaimed “Supreme Leader of Camp” would be proud of something like this. I knew he wasn’t actually _proud,_ though, just excited to have somewhere to finally rest. 

Kaede was the first to go in (followed by several protests from a certain purple haired _someone_ who declared that _he_ wanted to be the first inside), setting out her sleeping bag on the right side next to our bags. Kokichi went in right after her, setting his on the left side, next to the tent wall. That left me in the middle. With our sleeping bags pressed against each other in the small space.

Absolutely wonderful! I knew I would be getting no sleep that night. 

* * *

As soon as I got myself settled in, one of us decided to start a conversation. You can probably already guess who.

“Hey Shuichi! Wanna know how Theseus and Pirithous got chained to chairs by snakes?” Kokichi asked, quite happily. 

“Kokichi.” Kaede propped herself up on her elbow and glared at him, before laying back down. “Let’s not scare Shuichi out of doing this quest.”

“Awwww, come on Kaede! It’s just to help him not make bad decisions, that’s _all_ ,” He retorted in that “you absolutely should not trust any word I say” tone. 

“Tomorrow, during the DAY. Demigod nightmares can be bad enough, let’s not give him more trouble.”

“U-uh, guys, it’s fine,” I spoke up.

Kokichi turned on his side to face me.

“So is that a yes on the story?” He inquired enthusiastically. 

“No, go to sleep!” Kaede shouted. 

Unfortunately, the going to sleep part proved to be just as bad. I managed to find out that night that both of them move around a LOT in their sleep.

If I moved closer to my left, I’d have to deal with Kokichi’s cryptic mumbling; and if I moved to the right, I’d have to listen to Kaede’s eerie sleep humming. Yeah, humming. Children of Apollo are just that dedicated to music. 

In the end, I accepted my fate, and endured the constant sound of sleeping bags shuffling and people talking in their sleep. I even managed to convince myself it was calming. I guess it sorta was, since it meant I wasn’t alone. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. I had company, after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAMMA MIA guess whos back at it again. yeah its been months what about it. i needed time for my character arc okay. anyway this chapter was pretty fun to write tbh def enjoyed it but it did kinda drag on blegh


	10. Kaede Commits A Murder (Kind Of)

I awoke to screaming. Nothing else; just pure, unprompted screaming. What a great way to start the day!

Squinting my eyes to adjust to the sunlight that was pouring in, I looked confusedly up to the source: Kokichi. Of course it was him again. It was always Kokichi. When was it NOT? 

Unlike his usual composure, he looked absolutely, genuinely terrified this time. Something was obviously up, or maybe I just wasn’t reading him correctly. Either way, I decided to ask.

“What’s-what’s wrong?” 

He pointed to the front of the tent, which had about half a foot of space between the wall and our sleeping bags, his hand shaking. “SPIDER!” 

I froze. Right there, approximately 6 inches from where my feet were, was a big, gross, hairy spider.

I could handle racoons, heck, I could handle monsters, but _spiders_? That was the one thing that I adamantly REFUSED to handle. No way in hell. Of course, I did the most logical thing I could think of: scream. 

Yes, I do know I got annoyed at Kokichi for screaming, but when spiders are in play? Screaming is an absolutely fair decision, and I will not let you make fun of me for it. Actually, I wouldn’t know if you made fun of me for it, so nevermind. 

It was then Kaede’s turn to wake up, rubbing her eyes and groaning.

“Wha? What’s going on?” She asked, not seeing any immediate danger, like a monster or something. 

“KILL THE SPIDER!” Kokichi shrieked, jumping behind me to attempt to use me as a human shield. I, of course, protested and tried to get behind him, which resulted in the two of us awkwardly clinging to each other in a poor attempt to protect ourselves from the spider that had the misfortune of crawling into our tent. 

Kaede squinted at it, then looked at us, then looked back at it again. 

“Okay?” 

“HURRY UP! IT’S GONNA BITE ME OR SOMETHING!”

“Kokichi...you’ve been bitten by worse. I have ambrosia and other medicines in my bag. Besides, it’s just a wolf spider, you’ll be fine,” Kaede explained lightly. 

“NO I WON’T! IT’S BIG AND GROSS AND SCARY!”

“Please just kill it?” I pleaded. She knew that spiders were one of my worst fears, and I knew she hated seeing me afraid, so I used that against her.

She sighed. “Fine.”

Kaede leaned over to the side and grabbed her shoe, then crawled over. She aimed, raising it into the air above the spider. She waited. _SLAM_. The shoe slammed down on the little demon too fast for it to react. For good measure, Kaede hit it a few more times. If it managed to stay alive after that and started walking, Kokichi and I would probably just start screaming _more._ She picked up her shoe and looked at the bottom, disgusted. 

“Is it dead?” Kokichi hesitantly asked, still huddled up next to me, sleeping bag obscuring everything but his face.

“Yup!” Kaede turned the shoe to show us. Kokichi gagged, and I thought I just might have thrown up a little in my mouth. I’m not going to go into detail, because I feel like you would have the same reaction. I’ll spare the gross descriptions for now. She sighed. “You two will be the death of me, I swear.” 

“Ooooh, be careful saying things like that, Kaede! It could end up true, ya’know?” Kokichi seemed to immediately go back to his normal sly behavior as soon as the spider was out of his sight. I was still a little shaken up. 

Kaede stared at him blankly, then smiled.

“I don’t think you want to disrespect the person with a ‘big and gross and scary’ dead spider on the bottom of their shoe, do you?” She imitated his mannerisms to a scarily accurate level. It worked, because it shut him up quick. His expression was blank. I could tell Kaede won that round. 

Wordlessly, she scraped the bug off by rubbing her shoe in the dirt. I hoped that it’d all come off, and that she wouldn’t just track MORE bugs onto it. 

Kokichi, on the other hand, reached into his backback and fished out all the clothes he needed for that day. Simple stuff, just jeans and a camp t-shirt. He then went into his sleeping bag, zipped it over his head—which wasn’t too hard, considering his stature—and then almost immediately came back out, fully dressed. standing up and stretching. 

I blinked. There was no way someone could change that fast. It was physically impossible, if you took into account the amount of space he had as well as the clothes he had to put on, there was no way he could actually get that done. 

“What? Is my Aphrodite child charm just THAT irresistible?” He asked, having just finished tying his shoes. Damnit, I was staring again.

“No, I was just wondering how you got changed so fast,” I explained, really not wanting to get into an awkward situation. 

“Magic secrets, obviously.”  
  


Great. Thanks Kokichi, you’re a master at explanations. Magic secrets...  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
A switch then clicked in my head. Everything seemed clear in an instant.

“That’s one of your abilities, right?” 

“Huh?”

“Changing clothes so fast. Aphrodite was- IS, sorry, the goddess of beauty, right? W-well, clothes often are associated with a person’s overall beauty and attractiveness. Someone with nice clothing is usually seen as more attractive. Assuming you have n-noticeable magic abilities, this must be one of them. That’s, uh, the most logical assumption, at least,” I finished. Kokichi stared at me with a semi-surprised, semi-trying-to-hold-back-emotions-to-remain-calm look. After a couple moments of silence and just looking at each other (with the faint sounds of Kaede scraping a spider off her shoe with a rock she found), he spoke.

“That was...surprisingly well thought out,” Kokichi stated blankly, before clasping his hands together and smiling deviously. Actually, it wasn’t necessarily devious, but he somehow made every expression look untrustworthy. Some sort of small quirk I couldn't place that sent the whole thing off. “I knew you could! Very proud of you Shuichi, buuuut, that's only one of them. Good luck finding out the rest!”

I couldn’t get another word in, as he was already running out of the tent by the time I opened my mouth. Kaede yelled at him to stay close, warning about monsters, but he didn’t exactly care. He was a bit of a free spirit. Never really liked the whole concept of "listening", I assumed. 

  
  
I sighed. This would be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello gamers welcome to the next chapter this one was one of the comical ones that i REALLY couldn't wait to write so here it is. i promise next chapter will be a little more serious


	11. Kokichi Gets Kidnapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall im back again

Kaede went outside in her pajamas to watch Kokichi, leaving me to get changed in the tent. It was small, noisy, and cold, making a scratchy sound anytime I accidentally hit a wall. Stupid tent material. It was also April, meaning there was a good chance of rain at some point on our journey. I wished I had thought to bring an umbrella, but I supposed it was too late for that. 

After getting into my clothes, a black long-sleeved shirt, a jacket, and some dark blue jeans I’d taken from home, I exited. 

The cool breeze gingerly wrapped itself around me, enveloping me in a feeling of, well, cold. Anticlimactic, I know. I wouldn’t know how else to describe it. That stinging on your nose, numb fingers, prickling in your eyes, goosebumps on your skin. What you would imagine when someone asks you to remember what it feels like to be cold. 

It covered me like a reverse blanket. Huh, do reverse blankets that make you cold even exist? That’d be useful for summertime…

Ah, I was getting distracted. I needed to tell Kaede it was her turn to get changed, although I loathed becoming the new babysitter. Not like Kokichi wasn’t able to fend for himself, though. He was pretty good with a sword, and could definitely talk someone out of kidnapping him. Unfortunately, he was also very impulsive, which was the downfall of his smarts. His brain would probably tell him not to climb that tree as it would be very easy to fall and an injury was not something our trio could afford, but his impulses were already on the first branch

Shit, I should probably tell him to get down. 

“Kokichi! Get down from-”

“SHHHH!” 

“Huh?”

He sighed, and gestured for me to come closer. Kokichi bent down to whisper to me.

“I see something over there. I think it’s a monster. I got in the tree to try to get a better view. DON’T be too loud, I don’t want it attacking us just yet. If we’re careful, we can get around-”

“What’re you guys doing?” Kaede asked all too loudly. 

Kokichi stumbled in surprise and screamed, falling off the branch. Me and Kaede both quickly went to catch him, and we managed to succeed (barely), having him fall awkwardly into our arms. He immediately started whisper-yelling at Kaede and demanded we unhand him. I did as he asked, by dropping his upper body without warning, causing him to scream again and swing like a pendulum with his lower body still supported by Kaede. 

The two of us laughed at his rage, all the while he flailed his arms around angrily. It was nice to take a moment away from stress. Just...being silly teenagers, like we’re supposed to be. 

Kokichi eventually joined in, standing up and brushing himself off. 

“Okay, that was pretty funny.” He chucked for a little, but then his face turned dark. “Almost made me forget about the monster over there that’s staring us down.”

I blanched. I had completely forgotten. 

I turned to look, hoping it may have moved on and forgotten about us. Nope, it definitely didn’t. It was facing us directly, looking ready to charge at any second. 

“A cyclops. Of course...” Kokichi sighed. 

“Stand your ground,” Kaede commanded, pulling her bow and arrows out of her bag, “We won’t go down without a fight.” 

Me and Kokichi stood on each side of Kaede, swords in hand. She was prepared to shoot the second it showed any aggression. 

It took a step forward, and then began running at us. Kaede, fast like lightning, shot it in the stomach. It was too quick for it to dodge. The arrow lodged itself in, and the cyclops groaned in agony. It wasn’t done yet, though. It ripped it out and discarded it on the ground. 

“Idiot demigod children, I will eat you!” It roared. 

Kokichi laughed. “ _You’re_ the idiot here, and I’ll eat you first!” 

He ran at it with his sword, slashing and swinging. It was almost like a dance, the way he sprinted around it and led it in all different directions. Watching him perform such dangerous moves reminded me that he’d been practicing for much longer than I had. Even though I was apparently a natural, I still had nothing up against the long-time campers like Kokichi and Kaede. 

Something went wrong in the process, however, and the monster lifted him up in the air. Kokichi kicked and screamed, but his efforts were of no use. The cyclops ran off with him in hand. I started to chase after, but Kaede stopped me.

“Hold on, Shuichi. We still have our stuff here. We can’t let it get stolen while we're off on a rescue mission!”

“What else do we do then?! We have to get Kokichi back!” 

She stopped in thought for a second, then smirked.

“Say, how do you feel about going on a solo mini-quest?”

* * *

It was a horrible idea, really. But there I was, a total newbie to the world of gods and monsters, standing in front of a very inconspicuous corner store. Apparently, that particular corner store was home to monsters. Kaede sent me there as the first place to search, since she knew about it from a previous quest. She told me it was the most likely place for Kokichi to have been taken. It sounded crazy to me. Why would monsters hide their base in the middle of a city? Something about the mist, I guessed, hid the monster part from regular mortals.

Gathering my courage, I pushed open the door. A little bell jingled as I entered. Great, there goes the element of surprise. I heard the door to the back room open, and I quickly hid myself behind a shelf. A grunt, and then it closed. I let out a breath. Seemed like my stealth game wasn’t too bad. 

I scanned the area. Obviously, my sword would probably be the best weapon to use, however, there might be some other things of use. I tried to remember what Kaede had said about cyclopes. They’re very strong, so it’s probably best to outsmart them. But how would I do that? My eyes caught on a little souvenir whistle. I knew from personal experience that those things made the loudest, most annoying noises, and that cyclopes had very good hearing.

I put it in my mouth—ignoring the possible health risks—and blew as hard as I could. The whistle shrieked horridly, and I quickly threw it somewhere and ran into another aisle that I prayed the monster wouldn’t go to. 

The back door flew open, and heavy footsteps plodded over to where I’d tossed the whistle. While the monster was distracted with trying to figure out what made the sound, I darted behind the counter and entered the backroom. Sure enough, Kokichi was there, but not in the way I expected.

He sat casually at a small table, bottle of soda in hand, looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

“Uh, hi?” 

“What are you doing here?” Great, getting straight to the point. 

“I’m here to r-rescue you.”

“I don’t need-”

“Purple boy!” 

I whipped around, probably looking like a deer caught in headlights. The monster stood right behind me. He was a LOT taller than he looked from far away. 

“Oh! Buddy, meet Shuichi, Shuichi, this is Buddy. He’s a cyclops,” Kokichi announced. He was way too cheerful in front of his kidnapper.

“He is a friend of yours?”

His eyes focused on me for a second, before turning back to Buddy. 

“Yup!” 

Not as bad as I’d expected, honestly. I thought Kokichi would announce I was his nemesis and tell Buddy to kill me. That certainly wouldn’t be fun, and might’ve delayed our quest, but it wouldn’t be out of character for him to do something like that.

“So, Buddy, Kokichi, what’s going on...here?” I asked, trying to figure out how those two became friendly. 

Kokichi, ever the talker, began explaining.

“Well, y’see, he was TOTALLY gonna eat me, right?” He said it so casually, as if it wasn’t a threat to his life. “But then, I made him realize that he didn’t actually _want_ to eat me; he was just feeling pressured by the social norms of other monsters.” 

Although he was confident with his words, something felt off. Like some sort of artificial influence was placed on them. 

“That’s great!” I tried to sound enthusiastic, but it came out wrong. Buddy didn’t seem to notice, but Kokichi matched my strained smile. “Should we get going now?” 

“Get...going?” The cyclops said.

“Yeah, we should leave pretty soon. We have someone waiting on us, after all,” I explained. After saying that, I felt like I’d picked the wrong dialogue option in a video game. 

“Buddy’s friends do not leave! They stay!” He fumed, growing angrier by the second. 

“Woah, woah! Calm down!” Kokichi pleaded. 

“Purple boy will stay won’t he? Will you?”

“I…”

Kokichi averted his eyes, keeping on a blank expression, obviously thinking about his next move. Instead of waiting, I stepped in.

“Purple boy can’t stay, and neither can I, but maybe we could make a deal?” I bargained. If this worked, we could get out without a fight.

“What is the deal?” 

“Well...you could find other monsters who are struggling with societal norms. Like- like talk to them! That’s what you really want, right? Someone to talk to?”

Buddy nodded sadly. 

“W-we could also tell other monsters about you! I can’t guarantee they’ll visit, but it’s worth a try, right?”

“I...like that idea. Children of gods, you are free to go.” He moved over, allowing us to leave the back room and enter the actual store. 

Saying our goodbyes, the two of us finally left, breathing in the fresh air. For once, I was glad to be outside in a town I knew nothing about. 

“Oh my gods, that was SO fake!” Kokichi elbowed me and began laughing hysterically. 

“H-hey! I was trying to get us out of there!” I protested.

“Doesn’t change the fact that that was a total lie! It was _pretty_ good, though.” He paused, then gasped dramatically. “Have you been taking notes on me?” 

“Wh- huh?! Why would I do that?” 

“Obviously you’re jealous of my skills as a master liar.” 

“I am not! I was just thinking on my feet, and that was the first idea that came to me…” 

“Whatever you say~!” He sing-songed. “Hey, bet I can get to Kaede before you!” 

Without giving me the chance to reply, he sped off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kokichi: master of manipulation
> 
> anyway i hope this chapter was entertaining it was honestly pretty fun to write but felt a little rushed yknow??


	12. The Longest Car Ride Ever

“Hey guys! You look...surprisingly unscathed?” Kaede greeted us back at our campsite. She’d used the time we were gone to get dressed and ready for the day; wearing a camp t-shirt with a white long-sleeve shirt underneath, loose jeans, and the previously bug gut covered tennis shoes. 

“We’re just that good!” crowed Kokichi. 

I rolled my eyes. “We managed to get away without a fight. It’s not that big of a deal…” 

“Oh come on! Let her believe we’re cooler than we are for a second.” He crossed his arms and whined. 

“It’s still awesome that you two got away without having to fight. Cyclopes are serious work to avoid.” She chuckled. 

“I wouldn’t know, I only dealt with that one…” I admitted. Of course, Kaede and Kokichi already knew that. My demigod experience was probably nothing compared to theirs. 

“Good job not dying on your first go! Now you gotta do the same thing with your second, third, fourth, fifth-” 

“We get it, Kokichi! You can stop now.” I was glad that Kaede was able to stop him from continuing. I was getting anxious just thinking about adjusting to my new lifestyle as a demigod, not to mention the fear of suddenly getting eaten by a hungry monster. 

Kokichi let out a loud, exaggerated sigh, rolling his eyes. 

“ _Fiiiiiine._ ” He quickly snapped his head over to me and stared into my eyes harshly. I winced and froze. “But don’t you dare forget that your life as a demigod will be marked with endless struggle. If you do, you’ll die like countless before you.” 

Chills crept up my spine, but I stood firm. As much as I hated eye contact, I took it as a personal challenge to not look away; like some sort of cruel test of my own mental strength. After no more than 4 seconds, I broke. Definitely not as good at “standing firm” than I thought. I’d need some practice. Maybe Kokichi could help? I looked back at him, expecting to be visually annihilated, but instead, he was smiling wide. 

“I won! Now come on, let’s go do some adventuring,” he cheered, marching off. 

Kaede came over and put a hand on my shoulder, giving me a look of sympathy, worry, and minor annoyance. 

“Sorry about that. What he said _was_ partially true, it’s not as terrifying as he makes it out to be, I promise.” She looked me in the eyes, but a lot more comfortingly; like her eyes were a flame of warmth in a cold wasteland. 

“Thanks, Kaede.” Was all I could really say in the moment. Talking was never really my specialty. I work better inside my own head, anyway. 

We followed behind the ever-enthusiastic “Supreme Leader of Camp'', watching as he pointed out anything he found remotely cool like a child would. I guess we were still technically children. We were all a couple years away from being 18, Kaede’s 16’th birthday having passed last month, and mine coming up in September. I didn’t know when Kokichi’s was, but I assumed that he was born later in the year like me. 

It was weird to think that the gods would just let a trio of teenagers loose in the world to do something they could probably do themselves. They called it a quest, probably to make us think it was a fun, heroic journey, but the truth? It’s just a chore with a lot of safety hazards. 

That thought donned on me, hitting so hard I didn’t even notice a car had pulled up next to us and had struck up a conversation with Kaede and Kokichi. 

Driving it was a man with the brightest pink hair I’d ever seen, covered in a neon yellow beanie, which matched his tracksuit of the same color. Whoever this guy was, he had an odd sense of fashion. Unfortunately, I hadn’t picked up anything about him from what I heard of their interaction. 

“Wait, who are you?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t being rude. Luckily for me, the guy didn’t care, and explained.

“Kazuichi Soda, son of Hephaestus. Nagito IMed me asking if I could pick you guys up and take you to a rest stop a little out of town. What’s your name again? I know Nagito told me what it was, but I just can’t remember, y’know?” 

“Shuichi Saihara,” I provided. 

“Right, okay, okay. Go on and squeeze into the backseat. I’m sure they made you cram into that little car Argus drives, since it’s basically a Camp Half Blood rite of passage, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue for you guys,” Kazuichi explained as we got in, with me getting the middle seat. I knew as soon as he’d said that last part, he’d set himself up for a classic Kokichi Complaint. 

“It absolutely IS an issue, Mr. Soda! As a child of Aphrodite I can only receive the best treatment. I require a horse-drawn carriage at once!” He demanded. 

Kaede and I averted our eyes to look anywhere but towards him or Kazuichi. The secondhand embarrassment had overtaken me entirely. 

Kazuichi paused for a moment, before responding. 

“Look, I...can’t exactly get that for you…” 

Kokichi inhaled deeply, shoulders rising up to chin level, and I knew what was coming. But, before he could begin the waterworks, Kaede snapped. 

“Kokichi!” 

He froze up and looked over at her disappointedly. 

“Please don’t do this now…” She pleaded. 

“ _Fine._ I just wanted to have a little fun, since he’s Miu’s brother and all.” He twirled a piece of hair with his finger. 

I was taken back to my short meeting with Miu during the capture the flag game. The events of dinner had made me completely forget to talk to her again for armor, which made me internally facepalm. I’d need to remember that. 

“Miu? Miu Iruma? I remember her, yeah.” Kazuichi paused, probably trying to recall situations with her. “It was a while back, so she was, like, a little kid. I think she talked about you, actually. Said you were annoying and wouldn’t shut up. Kinda see where she was coming from…” 

This time, the crying came too fast for Kaede to prevent it. 

“S-she gossipped a-a-about m-me…? I-I knew she...I KNEW SHE NEVER LOVED ME!” 

That took me aback a little. Loved him? I didn’t even know they knew each other before this conversation. 

“Kokichi, please. The other two don’t know about your joke, and you’re just gonna confuse them.” Kaede directed her next words towards me and Kazuichi. “He pretends that he and Miu are exes to mess with people, that’s all.” 

Like before, Kokichi very quickly changed his emotions, once again going to complain. 

“It’s no fun if you explain it!” 

“It’s not funny if they don’t know about it!” 

Instead of arguing further, they both crossed their arms and looked out their respective windows. 

What proceeded was a competition of sorts: one would sigh, and then the other would sigh, but in a slightly different way. It lasted several minutes, and I could tell neither of them wanted to give up to the other’s unspoken challenge. Kaede may be a peacemaker, but she doesn’t like to back down. 

I caught Kazuichi’s eye in the rear-view mirror, and mouthed an apology.

After about 5 minutes of back and forth sighing, there was silence. Blissful, wonderful silence. 

“I WIN!” Kokichi announced loudly, startling everyone in the car. 

“It wasn’t a game, Kokichi.” Kaede groaned. 

“Then why did you keep sighing back?” He smirked.

“Because I knew you’d do this if I didn’t!” 

I slumped back in my seat. This would be a long ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes im running out of ideas what about it. there will be some fun things soon. i think

**Author's Note:**

> please tell me what you think and what i can improve!!!!!!!!


End file.
